The Lawful and the Lawless
by theblackwinds
Summary: What happens when Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright gets mixed up with Violetta Cadaverini, the granddaughter of a crime boss? Will a romance bloom or will it be heartbreak? My first story in years, RR and enjoy.
1. Turnabout Justice

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Date: February 4th, 11:32 P.M.  
Location: District Courtroom #2

Viola Cadaverini had her share of "adventures". But she had her grandfather, Bruto Cadaverini to always bail her out and comfort her in the end. This time, was different. Bruto had just suffered a major heart attack, and had fallen into a comatose state. The syndicate itself was in disarray; Detective Gumshoe and the prosecutors had taken the offensive and began a thorough cleansing of the city, arresting and convicting the largest amount of criminals in a record amount of time.

And sitting in the defendant's chair, she suddenly felt a lot more alone. Everyone who she had ties with had abandoned her: her "friends" were convicted, her "lover" had been arrested, and her grandfather, the only legitimate person who loved her, had fallen into a deep coma. She idily tilted her head to the side and gave a small chuckle; she had never realized how important her grandfather had been to keeping her sane. No one liked her because they knew the moment they crossed her they were going to sleep with the fishes. But even so, a false amount of friends was better than none.

"This is an amazing piece of testimony, that convicts the girl sitting in that chair," said Payne, "and I believe that I don't need to present anything else, your honor." The Judge nodded his head. "Mr. Wright, your cross examination?" Phoenix looked steely at Mr. Kudo, the man who had witnessed Viola Cadaverini poison the cup. "Ha! I'd like to see you get me this time youngin! I owe you a good one for making me out as an old lecher!" Kudo took a few good shots at Phoenix with his seed-box of holding, but the veteran lawyer had retorted fast.

_"OBJECTION!"_

"Mr. Kudo, if you had really witnessed her doing the deed, you would've noticed one distinct feature of my client. Her head bandages!" Kudo blinked, and looked sheepish. "Yeah, well what makes you say that? You got any proof!?" More seeds flew. Phoenix just slammed down his hands before raising a medical bill, the very one she gave him, and declared "Yes. She has suffered a car accident, and requires the bandages to keep her stitches from becoming infected, because the wounds are very extensive. To take them off would risk serious injury!" Kudo looked dumbfounded.

"Gah!" Payne looked struck. "Ob...Objection! The wounds are old! She probably doesn't require them as much as she did, and they're not fatal!" The Judge looked at Phoenix, to see if he had a counterpoint. He raised another paper. "The doctor who performed the surgery said that the wounds would take at least a year to heal before the bandages could be removed. The extent of the damage is high, though it doesn't appear to be. Those bandages are keeping her skull in place as well, so she cannot take them off without risking a fatal injury in the sense of a fracture. More still, is that even if Maggey Byrde is involved as earlier evidence implies, because she's already been found innocent, the Double Jeopardy rule is in effect."

The Judge slammed his gavel. "Well Mr. Wright, I am impressed. So far you've solidly proved that the waitress could not have been the defendant, and that what Mr. Kudo saw was merely someone else...but if thats the case, can you indict a suspect?" Phoenix shook his head. "My only job is to quickly establish the innocence of my client. I've been lucky to find the culprit before, but without extensive research into the workers at Tender Lender, or any of his illegal sources, all I can establish is that..."

_"Viola Cadaverini is INNOCENT!"_

Payne was sweating bullets. "Ob..ob...OBJECTION!" While down, the aging prosecutor was not out. "What about the final piece of evidence, the nail in her coffin?" He chuckled to himself, before presenting a tray. "The defendant in question has her fingerprints on it!" A triumphant look crossed across his face, and he gave a sidelong glance at Wright. "Weasel her out of that one, rookie! Aha...ha...huh?" Payne noticed Wright's grin. "I have here a list of workers who have been employed at Tres Bien. A name listed is Viola Cadaverini Herself!" Payne looked dumbfounded. "Because of this, she merely could've been tipping or helping clean up her dishes for a fellow co-worker." Payne countered. "The fingerprints were evenly placed on the bottom! I refuse to let this piece of evidence drop!" Phoenix shook his head. "It was dropped before you presented it. Remember, not unlike when I presented The Thinker at your face...you need to prove WHEN she had the fingerprints on the tray!" Payne yelped and watched his case fly out the window.

The gavel slammed down hard. "Well, Mr. Wright, you've established that Viola has had no possession of the poison, disproved a witness testimony, and punched a hole in decisive evidence. And this time, you've done it rather flawlessly." Phoenix took the compliment in stride, but he merely nodded in external gratitude. "Thank you, your honor." The kind old man nodded. "Defendant, approach the bench." Viola did as she was told, looking as passive as she did before, yet internally shocked at being found innocent. Part of her wanted to scream guilty, to become an accomplice to a murder, to just end her misery; but Phoenix used the Magatama to learn that she was indeed innocent, and that the appearance of the waitress and her part-time job was merely another insurance move by her boss, Furio Tigre. "I declare the defendant, Viola Cadaverini...**Not Guilty**." He promptly slammed his gavel down. "Court is adjorned."

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Date: February 4th, 11:57 P.M.  
Location: Courtroom Lobby

Phoenix rubbed his neck, loving how this case was so easily open and shut. But he was determined to tear through the facts as fast as he could've, and find her innocent in one go. _Now if I only could do this with every other case, I'd have Edgeworth tearing his silver hair out._ He grinned to himself. _I suppose I have "The Tiger" to thank, being a back stabbing bastard. Like hell I'm going to let cowards get the better of the innocent._ Suddenly, Phoenix felt someone's presence behind him. It felt cold, but something about it was calm. He turned to see Viola standing there, looking off to the side. "Hello...Mr. Wright. Thank you...for helping me in this...I didn't have anyone...to turn to...anymore." Phoenix could tell that she was being sincere, Magatama or not. "It really was no problem. I know how it feels to be surrounded, abandoned, with no one to turn to. Thats mainly the reason I became a defense lawyer."

"...coffee?" She gave her passive smile. Phoenix took a moment to register what she said. "...I like your coffee, and thankful that you aren't the type to poison people given our earlier suspicions. But I don't know..." She looked to the side and gave her eerie chuckle. "My grandfather and friends...aren't going to trouble you. Please...join me." Phoenix rubbed his chin. "I wasn't concerned about them, it wouldn't be the first time I had a deadly threat waved at me. Bluecorp, Manfred von Karma, Shelly de Killer, and of course, your very own Tigre. Its just that I had planned to relax with friends of mine today..." Viola thought for a moment...then opened up her wallet. She slowly drew out a crisp $100 bill. "I have...my own money...I'll treat your friends to a party they can enjoy by themselves." Phoenix paused in thought again. He only had a wrinkled twenty, and it would be a while before she had to pay him for his services.

Phoenix pulled out his phone, and punched in a phone number. "Maya? I'm going to swing by the office real fast and leave you and Pearls some spending money. Yes, yes, I know we planned a movie, but I think you can plan something with $100 bucks---NO I did not steal it! Look, I'll explain later. Yes! For the last time its legitimate! I'll see you in a bit." He pushed the end button. "I appreciate the thought, and of course, not to sound rude, it makes me wonder about my service payment. I don't think you should overspend it on me." He squared his shoulders, and rubbed the back of his head. "But as to coffee, I'd be happy to join you, especially if its a cup you've made." She gave a chuckle, and Phoenix could've swore it sounded less eerie.

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A/N: Tell me what you think. Its been a while, and I'm a little rusty, but I'd feel more inclined to continue this if reviews are posted. 


	2. Coffee Break

(AN: I need to fix the previous times. It seems rather late to be holding a trial. My mistake.)

**Date: February 4th, 12:15 P.M.**

**Location: Tres Bien**

It had been a while since Phoenix had sampled a cup of coffee. The bitter flavors brewed by Godot might as well have cut out his tongue, for how well his taste buds worked later. But the mellow mix of chocolate and the dark notes of the coffee came together well. "Wow Viola, this is...exceptional! I thought the coffee here was always bad." She gave that cackle again; it sent shivers down Nick's spine but he couldn't help but be intrigued by it. "Simple...Mr...Armstrong had used...too dark of a roast. Overpowering...hee." She looked casually off to the side.

Nick sipped the coffee again, savoring it. It was a step up above hot chocolate even; more refined than sweet. The javachino could easily have converted him to the ranks of Godot in coffee guzzling. If only Godot hadn't been badgering him with that "Trite" nickname... "You have something on your mind, don't you?" Nick stated bluntly. Viola gave another cackle of sorts. "Good guess...got...proof?" Nick nodded. "Geez, I'm a lawyer and you people always call me...well, take that!" he slid a piece of paper at her. "Hm? My...grandfather's bill of...health?" She looked at it almost idly-- but Wright knew what she was thinking.

"He's...getting worse by the day Violetta. The money for the trial isn't high, but most of his funding will be seized for his bills and whatever stolen money will be returned to the rightful owners." Nick sighed. "And yes, his house will be searched and seized as well. You're going to be homeless...you're turning to me again aren't you?" Viola closed her eyes. "Yes...I hate to be... a burden." He sighed. "I can't leave you twisting in the dark. You were betrayed and abandoned to take the fall from the man who has hurt you so many times. El Tigre," he muttered, grimacing. "He took Glen out, almost ruined my reputation, hurt Maggie Byrde and set her up to fall, leaving Gumshoe to hurt someone he cares about...he deserves no sympathy."

He sighed, looking down at the cup of coffee. "You were just born into a circumstance with both the positive of being rich and powerful, but the negative of being feared. Nobody respected you, just the men behind you." Nick extended his hand. "I can offer you a small job and housing at Wright and Co. Maya is fine, but I could use another assistant...or maybe a cook? Seems like you can cook." Nick was partly dreading this; Pearls wouldn't take an immediate liking to the cackles and Maya would be partly annoyed to have another mouth to feed, even if she could cook... But if he didn't, he might as well have become a prosecutor.

I became a Defense Attorney to help friends and those in need. While I didn't cause all this, I can't help but feel that I'm kind of obligated to help.

Thinking on this, he hardly registered that she had daintily grasped his hand and shook. "Huh? Oh. Oops." Giving a sheepish grin, he gripped lightly and shook back. "Lost my train of thought. Welcome...to Wright and Co."

As he said this, Nick didn't know what he was getting himself into.


End file.
